The Baltimore Spectator: Baltimore's Dirty Little Secret -- One Of Four American Cities On The World's Most Dangerous List -- This IS Harm City! #MobTown Chronicles

City Remains Ranked Among Most Violent In The World -- Leadership Largely Ignores Grim Reality
4 February 2015

By A.F. James MacArthur
Agitator In Chief
@BaltoSpectator

Baltimore is one of only four American cities making the list of the Fifty Most Dangerous Cities In The World.

We understand the Mayor's reluctance in acknowledging this. She won't even talk about it at all. Unsurprisingly, no one in the media has shown any interest in discussing this less-than-desireable achievement of the city with her. Listening to her speak in public and observing her social media, you would never imagine things were this bad.

There are indeed two Baltimores. The one that Stephanie Rawlings-Blake wishes were the only one, and the one that Baltimore's majority must live -- and die -- in every day.

25 people were murdered within the first 31 days of January. Your mayor won't even mention it. As if

it never happened. How's that for being honest with those affected by this towns ceaseless violence? Let's pretend it isn't an issue.

It's pretty annoying to see Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake on national news shows like "Meet The Press," sounding off on national events and foreign policy, while back home she ignores the true state of the city.

The mayor has been on this show 5 times! I'm guessing absolutely no mention is ever made of Baltimore being among the world's most dangerous cities.

To my knowledge, not once was she on there discussing the hopeless despair permeating the collective conscience of her city.

While many in Baltimore join the mayor in her cognitive dissonance, visitors from other places are often blunt in the assessment. They will tell you, when they take a hard look around, this city isn't so charming.

There are indeed two Baltimores. The one that Stephanie Rawlings-Blake wishes were the only one, and the one that Baltimore's majority must live -- and die -- in every day.

To be honest, since I don't own a television, I don't watch the mayor on these programs. The video clips on the internet and newspaper summaries tell me plenty.

There are places in Baltimore the Mayor should be ashamed of.

The problem of not owning up to the less desirable sides of a major city -- when you're it's leader -- is; it tends to give the impression that you have absolutely no plan, nor desire to do anything about it. As if you somehow hope all the problems would just magically fix themselves, or better yet, just simply go away.

We all have our fantasies.

Junk Journalism To Blame?

Perhaps we can blame the media. Except for occasional mention, few will chronicle the ongoing death toll. The larger picture of murderous mayhem is rarely painted. Incidents -- when actually reported -- are depicted in isolated fashion. None dare connect the dots.

Some TV stations routinely and deliberately omit certain shootings and homicides from their nightly news cast. Folk consuming this as their primary or only source of information, are deficient of reality, subsisting on an artificially sweetened, sugar coated, shallow diet of junk journalism.

It is certain none will acknowledge the fact of Baltimore achieving a dubious distinction such as the subject of this story; Most Dangerous Cities In The World.

How long will Baltimore continue to maintain third world like status before we get a mayor and a city government that takes things seriously and addresses the crisis conditions the city is truly in?

English: Baltimore, MD Mayor Stephanie Rawling...

Princess or politician?

While none of us like to dwell on negative issues, there are things about Baltimore that simply won't get better by ignoring them and wishing they'd go away. January saw 25 murders. That's literally near a quarter of Washington DC's murder count for all of 2014. IN ONE MONTH!

Seeing the madame mayor on TV talking about everything but the serious issues of the city she's supposed to run, is really disturbing to me. Personally I'd like to see a mayor with a laser focus on local issues affecting the over 600,000 thousand residents of a struggling city. Instead of one working to increase her prominence and visibility on the national stage.

It's not as if things are going that great here. For far too many, it's not all good in the hood. If you're honest with yourself, you know this is true.

Beyond Crime -- A City Under Social And Economic Siege

If three out of four tires on your car were properly inflated and in good condition, but the third was blown out, ripped to shreds; how silly would you look, driving down the road, acting as if all is well?

Unemployment -- particularly in the city's majority black population -- remains a major issue.

Juvenile delinquency, truancy, the high school drop out rate, and teen pregnancy, are all among the the decades old issues that continue to be like a lead weight, tied around the neck of a Mobtown, USA. A city that so desperately needs to stand up tall, and have something to be proud of.

When I say something to be proud of, I'm not talking about the kind of positive, self affirmations that we should all practice in our personal life.

The problem with Baltimore is, by any measurable matrix, we continue to lag far behind other comparable cities. And without leadership even addressing the issues, there is zero prospect of hope for improvement and a brighter future for those living in that "other" Baltimore. The one never spoken of in board rooms and cocktail parties.

Some people like to pretend all of Baltimore looks this way.

Of course, it's already been well documented that two Baltimore's exist. For many reading this; life is great. They have good jobs, live in great neighborhoods, violent crime is relatively low where they are compared to other parts of the city, and overall their existence holds with it, a healthy degree of optimism.

But is this an accurate way to measure the health and morale of the city? If three out of four tires on your car were properly inflated, but the third was blown out, ripped to shreds, how silly would you look, driving down the road, acting as if all is well?

The "haves" typically have a louder, more prominent, more dominant voice than the so called "have nots." In truth, those on the other side of the spectrum are what my friend, radio host Daren Muhammad, likes to refer to as the voiceless and the choice less.

Stuck in situations of hopelessness and despair, on lifetime public assistance, living in drug infested, trashed out, rat crawling, neighborhoods where seeing crime scene tape is so routine, children think it's outdoor decor. This is the Baltimore where things have largely remained unimproved through the years.

The Baltimore Spectator remains committed as ever to being a strong, intelligent, unignorable voice for those who have none.

A Baltimore so many would love to pretend doesn't exist. But it does. A Baltimore where we all wish somehow, some way, things were on the come up. They're not... Not yet.

References:

The 50 Most Violent Cities In The World -- Original report prepared by Seguridad, Justicia, Y Paz, a Mexico-based policy research center.

Stephanie Rawlings Blake on Meet The Press

25 January 2015: "I think there is a very simple way to resolve this whole issue [Deflate Gate]: #RavensSeahawksSuperBowl."

17 August 2014: "There's a sacred bond that the police have with the community. And when it's broken, it has ripple effects in that community and across the country..."

2 March 2014: "...We have a great LGBT community in Baltimore, I've been a big supporter to the first LGBT, the same-sex marriage in the state right after New Year's. And there's no war going on in Baltimore."

12 January 2014: "When you set up this culture of callousness, and when you have a history of telling people to 'go blank themselves' and calling reporters 'idiots,' you can't play it both ways..."

1 December 2013: "I think that was very clear in 2008, 2012. People want other options on the table. So, you know, what is your other option? You have to come up with something else. Because there's no tolerance for us to enter into another war."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Researcher, independent investigator, and entrepreneur, A.F. James MacArthur is Baltimore's most well known independent journalist contributor. A member of the underground news network for over 20 years. During this time, he's been a frequent subject of attack by government under the guise of law enforcement. Although closely watched and followed, he's often boycotted from being given any credit for his work by mainstream media.
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